41 Lure O Gold 1904

"
"
The Lure o 9
Gold
hitch her up.
I know how better n you. We don t
generally tie em on till the stuff s aboard; but the
Capt n s late and when he comes there ll be lots o*
lively jumpin round, an I might fergit or somethin .
You throw a hitch like that see an then over
this
way twicet aroun to make sure."
He hitched and wound the rope about the box, one
end of which he lifted with a grunt,
for the compact
little mass hugged the sand as if it were the top of a
sunken post.
"She is heavy, isn t she?" said the lighterman, as
he tugged and tilted, with what seemed to me a growing
respect for the treasure he had before referred to so
disparagingly. After tying the last of a complex and
seaman-like system of knots, he said :
Guess we bet
ter git her aboard, after all. It s ag in orders, but I ll
stand fer it. Yeh ve paid yer passage, ain t
yeh?
Well, then, I guess it will be all right.
Bill !
he called,
"Bill!"
A great, rough, sailor-looking fellow, whose hands
were freely tattooed in blue and red and whose eyes
wore a sleepy look, came from the lighter,
and the two
of them lifted the box and carried it aboard. I fol
lowed, nodding to the one-eyed poet
and his friend in
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